Los Angeles history

July 30, 1938

July 30, 2008 | 8:39
am

he search is on for a candidate to face Mayor Frank Shaw in the recall election. The Times story mentions Councilman Stephen W. Cunningham, but more important, it says that Judge Fletcher Bowron and Supervisor John Anson Ford "have indicated their unwillingness to enter the race."

Also note the story about the Police Department establishing a sex crimes unit and pay particular attention to the comment that "a psychiatric examination will be made of all sex offenders with the object of recommending to the court the proper correctional as well as the punitive procedure for their rehabilitation."

If you know anything about LAPD history, you are going to think of Dr. Joseph Paul De River, the police psychiatrist and author of several books, including "The Sexual Criminal." De River interviewed virtually every sex criminal in Los Angeles and played a role in the Black Dahlia case.

At left, there are some wonderful details about early Los Angeles in a story about the retirement of city Treasurer Ned T. Powell.